• Archive through May 01, 2001 May 01 - 09:14 pm [20]

i suspect that BBB is Tim's alter ego.. like he jumps into a phone booth and comes out as a naked neanderthal ripping chunks of meat from passing animals and deflowering hotties with benq quan

or maybe not

The Betty is not Uncle Tim.

He's too skinny.
He's too Californian.
He's too talented (martial arts).
He practices way too much.
He's too much of a goodie goodie.

He's no Big Balled Betty!

"There's only one Betty, Big Balled Betty!"

Tim,

My dad sent me the Nei Gong book as a birthday present. I was reading the part you wrote, particularly the part about the "springiness" of the body when it is "relaxed," and this led me to a question about flexibility and stretching. I used to be extremely flexible, but as I got stronger, I didn't take the time to maintain that flexibility. I am interested in getting some of the flexibility back with a daily routine of stretching exercises. My question is this: is it possible to be "too flexible" for good internal martial arts practice? My concern is that if I stretch beyond some point, the desired "springiness" won't be achieved.

Hi Mark,
It is possible to overstretch. Chinese martial arts teachers in particular are adamant about not becoming flexible past the range you have strength. It is also possible to stretch the connective tissue (ligaments) and weaken the joints. To avoid problems, stretch along the lines of normal ROM, and I would recommend adding some isometric holds at the end range of flexibility to insure strength throughout your entire ROM.

would doing a 'split' be going past the range
of motion?

Not necessarily, if you have enough strength in the split to rise without using your hands.

hell, I barely have enough strength to get off
of a stool without using my hands.

Tim,

I am not sure I have understood your response to my question about "how far" to stretch (and if there is such a thing as "too far" ). Since your reply was short, I will reproduce it here:

>It is possible to overstretch.
>Chinese martial arts teachers in particular are
>adamant about not becoming flexible past the
>range you have strength. It is also possible to
>stretch the connective tissue (ligaments) and
>weaken the joints. To avoid problems, stretch
>along the lines of normal ROM, and I would
>recommend adding some isometric holds at the end
>range of flexibility to insure strength
>throughout your entire ROM.

When I stretch, I know I am getting some benefit when I feel the stretch in the appropriate muscles. This isn't exactly the old muscle-head adage "no pain, no gain," but it isn't all that far off. The thing is this: I feel the stretch somewhere near the end of my currently available ROM. But if I stretch consistently a few times per week, after a few weeks my ROM grows noticeably because of the stretching. So am I stretching "too much" if I feel the stretch and it extends my ROM?
I suspect the problem may be that what I call ROM is not really ROM, or at least is not what you call ROM. Can you clarify for me? How can I know if I am stretching "too much?"

Obviously, you have to go to your end range of motion and then carefully past the previous limit if you want to become more flexible. Rather than try to explain a whole system of flexibilty here, I can recommend an excellent book: "Beyond Flexiblity: Russian Flexibilty Breakthroughs" by Pavel Tsatsouline. It is published by Dragon Door Publications the ISBN no. is 0-938045-15-6 Their e mail address is dragondoor@aol.com The method provided is much like the one I learned from Asian teachers, although much more systematic. Let me know what how it works for you.

Hi all,

to follow-up on one of Tim's earlier comment: "Perhaps if we used our intent to control our movement, we could even relax and do pull ups"

I would like to share a practice that I have just started toying with which may help in this: when doing an exercise (I do it w. push-ups)do not count your reps. My experience has been that counting my reps gets me to tense up as I am trying to reach a target number of reps. Not counting my reps on the other hand gives me no goal but the one to use my intent to drive my effort and leaves more room for me to be sensitive to 1) spending just the right amount of energy with proper alignment on each rep and 2) being mindful of the degree of fatigue of my muscles. When do I stop?: when I feel my muscles start struggling (i.e. they start shaking a bit), because I sense that point, beyond which I could still go, I therefore also use my intent to stop the reps.

I have little experience in ways of sparring or martial art competition, but I believe this provides me with a mindfulness exercise and keeping a "free mind / free body" mindset useful in internal type practices, as opposed to a "strugling" mindset which is my natural tendency when I think I should push myself to reach XYZ amount of reps.

This may only be useful for beginners as experienced people may be able to count reps, push themselves beyond fatigue while doing conditioning exercises and still be relaxed and have a free mind. It may also not be practical if someone has specific conditionning goals (which I don't).

Cheers,

Fred Nguyen

PS: I find this website / discussion board really great, congratulations Tim!

Fred,
Your example is useful for all of us.

Tim,

I have been training in my martial art for about 8 years. I've kept myself pretty healthy with training, eating pretty healthy, and extra work outs such as running and isometric exercise. But within the last few years I've been experiencing a lot of back pain -- mainly in the lower back and neck. These pains have kept me from working out now days and even my kung fu training sometimes. I am also starting to have trouble staying flexible. If I was reaching old age I wouldn't be so surprised, worried, or frustrated ( I think ), but I'm only 25 and not used to this type of life.
I've gone to a doctor and he hasn't seen anything wrong with me (surprise, surprise). I know you're not a doctor but all I wanted to ask of you is, would you suggest your "hsing yi nei gung" exercises to help me with these pains? I wouldn't be surprised that I have bad circulation. Could these exercises help me with my back pains and bad chi flow?
Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Mark

Hi Mark,
It's hard to say if the Nei Gong exercises will help you, it would depend on what your specific problem is. The Nei Gong set is fairly thorough and not overly strenuous, and I've taught alot of students who have had good results. The Nei Gong set will certainly help increase your circulation and flexibility.
Have you seen someone who specializes in structural problems (chiropractor or osteopath)?
There is also an excellent book you may want to read 'Healing Back Pain' by John E. Sarno MD.

Tim,

What excercises do you do or recommend for strengthening and conditioning the upper back muscles(rhomboids, middle and lower traps, lats, rear deltoids)?

Chin ups? Rows?

Thanks,

bob

Bob,
I think chin ups and pull ups are among the best exercises for the upper back. Done correctly, back bridges are also very good.

Thanks Tim

Tim,

Have you or anyone else investigated http://www.zdorovye.com ?

Rumbrae,
Yes, I've corresponded with Scott Sonnon and have seen much of his work. On the whole, I think his material is excellent.

thanks

Tim,

What have you incorporated from Scott Sonnon's work into your own practice, or, what did you take away that was valuable that your previous learnings from IMA did not provide?

How does Zdorovye differ from Wang Ji Wu's 16 excercises? Could they be integrated with and compliment each other or should they best stand apart?

The movements I was most interested in were his ground exercises. They are combinations of wrestling exercises, traditional Russian groundwork movements, modifiications of standard Judo basics and they include alot of movements that the BJJ schools teach.

IMA have virtually no groundwork. Wang Jiwu's set includes no ground movements with the exception of push ups.

The Zdorovye standing exercises include movements for the joints that are similar to a number of the 16 exercises. I think they can be practiced together with benefit.

Tim,

Apart from movement, how did you find his teaching on how to breathe or "be breathed" (with respect to movement and structure)?

Was any of this teaching incorporated into and how did you apply it to your present self defence practice? How about Wang Jiwu's 16 excercises?

Thanks

I'm not too familiar with Scott's breathing methods.

hi tim, earlier in this thread you talked about an upcoming book, and seeing as it was started x number of years ago, im curious as to whether it has come out yet, and if it has, what is it called?

Lance,

It is yet unfinished.

My escapes from standing holds dvd is ready for sale however.

Hi Tim

Where do I buy it?

Tobias

I liked Sonnon's early gripping and structure stuff, though I wish he spoke plain English. His groundfighting versus multiples bordered on ridiculous.

Tobias,

There will soon be a link on my site that will have the dvd for sale.

Great!
About that book mentioned earlier - power training - is it still
under " construction"?

Tobias